Welcome to the film study from the LSU-South Carolina game, where LSU went from a 98-pound weakling against Florida to a regular Charles Atlas of college football Saturday with its 23-21 victory. To say LSU got physical with the Gamecocks would be putting it mildly.

The Tigers beat up the Gamecocks, running right at them on offense and attacking with vigor on defense. Here's an indication that it was all part of the game plan: fullback J.C. Copeland played 59 of the 78 snaps and tight end Chase Clement 67. Those guys don't tiptoe through the tulips, they are in the game to knock people down.

There was no spreading out the defense, just downhill running. Against Florida, LSU ran its three-wide out set 15 plays and last week only three. LSU did go to four wides on seven occasions but played two or more tight ends for 32 snaps and one fullback for 65 snaps.

Copeland had a great night knocking down just about every Gamecock that got in his way. LSU backs continually broke tackles and guard La'El Collins had 10 knockdown blocks. Zach Mettenberger was scattershot with his passing but connected on some key third-down throws to keep the chains moving.

Given the offensive struggles of the previous three weeks and the offensive line troubles, LSU took a major step forward Saturday and regained its mojo.

Player of the Game

Jeremy Hill

At the start of camp, fans wondered why Miles didn't automatically talk about Hill as a redshirt. Now we know. He looked like the team's best back Saturday and part of that might be fresh legs. He runs as hard as Spencer Ware, but with more speed and a little better vision.

He showed that on his first TD run. The play started toward left guard but the hole developed at left tackle. Hill moved forward with RG Trai Turner pulling in front of him and with a nifty shift of his feet stepped to the left behind fullback Connor Neighbors. TE Nic Jacobs, with help from Josh Dworaczyk, drove DE Jadeveon Clowney inside while Clement walled off LB DeVonte Holloman outside.

South Carolina LB Reginald Bowens came in low and met Hill in the hole but Hill ran through his tackle and followed Neighbors, who knocked CB Jimmy Legree out of the way. Hill had a head of steam as safety D.J. Swearinger tried to grab him from behind at the 2 but Hill made a great stretch with the ball and planted it on the goal line for the score. Hill really put on a show with his other scoring run (see below).

Offensive Play of the Game

Hill's 50-yard touchdown run to give LSU a 23-14 lead in the fourth quarter.

At this point, South Carolina's defense was saying "no mas." It was tired and had had enough. LSU was set up in an I-formation with the tight ends Clement and Jacobs stacked on the right side next to freshmen Turner and Vadal Alexander, who were starting at guard and tackle, respectively.

Hill took the pitch and La'El Collins pulled from left guard in front of him. Turner and Alexander double-teamed DT Byron Jerideau while Clement and Jacobs did the same to end Devin Taylor. Hill stayed behind Collins, who got a shoulder on LB Shaq Wilson coming from the left and then blasted Swearinger downfield. Copeland set the edge by picking off Holloman.

Wilson got his hands on Hill at the line but that's all. Hill went forward through the hole and then cut left to avoid Victor Hampton coming up from the secondary. He found Clowney on his tail so he cut back to the right between Hampton and SS Brison Williams in front of him, and exploded with speed South Carolina likely never saw on game tape. Hampton appeared to have a shot and reached out at the 25-yard line but only got a hand on his back. Legree made a desperation dive at the 15-yard line but came up empty.

Defensive Play of the Game

Eric Reid's interception to set up LSU's go-ahead field goal.

LSU had stopped South Carolina most of the night but hadn't yet forced a turnover. The Tigers didn't exactly force this one but it's all the same, isn't it?

South Carolina QB Connor Shaw took a shotgun snap, faked a handoff to Marcus Lattimore and rolled to his right looking for TE Rory Anderson. He had lined up on the right of the formation and crossed the field at an angle to the left. As Shaw rolled to that side, LSU LB Lamin Barrow moved up toward Shaw, out of his zone area, leaving Anderson wide open.

Shaw, a right-hander, tried to square his shoulder and throw, but sailed the ball far over Anderson's head at the 40-yard line, and right into Reid's arms at midfield. As soon as he released it, Shaw knew what was going to happen and he jumped into the air in disgust.

Reid returned the ball 29 yards before he was overtaken by Bruce Ellington and tackled from behind. He was shaken up on the play because Ellington landed on top of him and Reid fell on the ball, aggravating a previous contusion caused when he fell on a teammate's cleat.

Special teams play of the game

Michael Ford turned what looked like a disaster into nice field position with a 28-yard kickoff return.

South Carolina had just taken a 14-10 lead with 5:02 left in the third quarter and kicker Adam Yates kicked off short. But Ford completely misjudged the ball and had to field it on a high bounce at the 7-yard line. By that time South Carolina had five players within 13 yards of Ford and he looked trapped.

Ford took a couple of steps forward to the 9 and then cut to the left trying to turn the corner, which with his speed was doable. Corey Thompson worked his way back and picked off two defenders who were right behind Ford at the 14-yard line as he turned upfield. Jarvis Landry screened off two more as Ford ran by.

Akeem Aguste was coming hard from Ford's right, and Ford cut inside him at the 25 while Deion Jones avoided a block in the back. Quin Smith finally caught Ford from the right and if he hadn't, Ford might have gone the distance. Yates was the last man after Smith but Nic Jacob blindsided him with a brutal, but legal, block by slipping around in front of him just enough.

Oops play

South Carolina's T.J. Gurley wiped out a chunk of Ace Sander's 50-yard punt return with a personal foul for blocking Luke Muncie out of bounds.

The two players plus another Gamecock got locked up in a block and almost missed the whole return. They careened toward the sideline and as Sanders worked his way back upfield Gurley continued blocking Muncie while he was out of bounds.

Gurley's efforts were wasted as Muncie sprinted across the field to make the tackle at the LSU 39. Instead of getting the ball there, South Carolina started its drive at its 46-yard line.

Shaw rolled to the right and TE Justice Cunningham, who was lined up on the right, ran across the field to the left toward Barrow in a zone. When Barrow moved deeper, Cunningham cut upfield and when Barrow saw Shaw throwing he hustled back.

Cunningham made a leaping catch at the 12-yard line and Barrow jumped too late. Simon, coming from the end zone, also went for the hit but Cunningham passed between the two defenders and they collided hard. The 232-pound Barrow got up unfazed but the 193-pound Simon lay on the ground for several moments out of bounds. He felt that one.

Quarterback report

Everyone might remember the interception Mettenberger threw to set up South Carolina's first touchdown but the junior signal-caller had a solid game. There were no major mental gaffes or penalties.

His best stat on a night when he completed 11 of 25 passes for 148 yards was his third-down ratio. Mettenberger was 5-of-9 passing on third down for 82 yards. That helped keep some LSU drives alive and the defense off the field. After having three passes batted down at the line of scrimmage, Mettenberger had a few misfires that went high.

The interception was a play they had run several times before with success. This time CB Jimmy Legree read the play and jumped the route. LSU was in a two-wide receiver set, both to the right with Odell Beckham Jr. in the slot and Kadron Boone wide.

Legree was 8 yards off Boone and Swearinger moved up on Beckham at the snap. Beckham ran a bubble route to the sideline and Boone ran a slant. But before Boone made his cut, Legree was breaking to the spot where the ball was going to be delivered. Boone should have adjusted his route and stayed in front of Legree to at least collide with him and prevent the interception, but he went behind Legree and it was off to the races. Credit Hill for running down Legree at the 2-yard line.

Mettenberger cost LSU a TD and himself a TD pass when he overthrew Landry on the Tigers' third possession. On second-and-10 from the 15, Landry faked a slant and Legree bit, looking for another pick, and Landry angled toward the flag. Swearinger was coming over from safety but was way late and Mettenberger short-armed the ball, throwing it far over Landry's head.

Later in the game in the fourth quarter, Mettenberger had a chance to throw a fade to Nic Jacobs on third-0and-goal at the Gamecock 3-yard line. But he threw the ball so far out of bounds, Jacobs didn't even think about jumping.

Mettenberger showed poise when he waited for Landry to come open against a zone defense for a 16-yard completion on third-and-5. He looked left for Beckham going deep and when Terrence Magee pulled his man to the outside, it opened up a hole in the zone and Mettenberger delivered the ball through a tight window.

He made another slant throw to Landry on second-and-13 to keep a field-goal drive alive. His arm strength also allowed him to throw a 10-yard dart to James Wright on second-and-13 to make third down more manageable.

On one incompletion, Mettenberger showed better pocket awareness. Clowney got loose and was coming from Mettenberger's back side. He felt the pressure and stepped up in the pocket a half step and was able to throw an incomplete pass rather than taking a sack. South Carolina went into the game with an SEC-leading 25 sacks and got only one. The sack was probably Mettenberger's fault.

J.C. Copeland did a poor job picking up a blitzing Shaq Wilson. Mettenberger stepped up in the pocket as Wilson went around the back and instead of throwing the ball away - it was first down -- Mettenberger tried to turn and run away from the line of scrimmage and ran right into Wilson.

Call of the game

How confident was Les Miles in the running game? With LSU trailing 14-0 in the fourth quarter, he called a straight-ahead running play to Spencer Ware on third-and-6 at the South Carolina 43 -- and the Tigers picked up the first down. This was gutsy.

The Tigers were in a three-wide receiver set with Russell Shepard to the left. Shepard motioned toward the ball and Mettenberger faked a speed sweep handoff to him going to the right. Ware was on Mettenberger's right and Clement off the line next to Alexander.

Clement went left and RG Trai Turner pulled to lead Ware to the left. Turner blocked Clowney and Clement pulverized Chaz Sutton to open up a big hole for Ware. But he still had work to do. Hampton tried to fill the hole at the 40 but Ware simply ran right through him and got 4 more yards to get the first down with 1 to spare.

Clowning Clowney

LSU took some of the starch out of Clowney's aggressiveness with two first quarter screen passes to his side that worked because of him coming hard on a pass rush.

On third-and-4, Hill at FB swung out to the left on a screen pattern to influence the South Carolina linebackers that way. Ware chipped Clowney, who was otherwise unblocked, and Dworaczyk and P.J. Lonergan moved forward to set up the wall. As Clowney rushed, Mettenberger side-armed the ball to Ware, who showed great burst upfield. Dworaczyk blocked and Lonergan blocked Wilson and Bowens to the left, while Collins knocked DT Byron Jerideau to the right. Ware got 10 extra yards as he ran through a tackle by Holloman.

Later on third-and-10, Clowney ran a stunt inside as Aldrick Foreman went outside, and Mettenberger flipped a screen to the left to Hill for 21 yards. Dworaczyk and Collins moved quickly out in front of Hill and Dworaczyk destroyed Hampton to the outside while James Wright's crack back block knocked out Holloman to the inside.

In the second quarter, Clowney took a hard inside rush and Hilliard read that and followed Copeland off tackle. Copeland crushed Bowens in the hole while Clement kicked Holloman outside. Hilliard ran through Swearinger's tackle and got 14 yards.

Lattimore . . . or less

Marcus Lattimore went into the game averaging 90 yards per game and has been hard to stop for three seasons. But LSU stayed in front of him and never allowed him to get up a head of steam to hold him to 35 yards rushing on 13 carries. It was the fourth smallest yardage total of his 27-game career and fifth fewest carries for a guy averaging 20.3 carries per game.

Nine of those 13 carries went for 2 yards or fewer and Lattimore didn't run the ball in the fourth quarter. That's the time he's usually salting the game away for the Gamecocks. He got ball on third and short yardage three times and failed to get first down each time.

He did use excellent second effort to barely squeeze out a first down on a fourth-and-2 play and his 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was classic Lattimore. The middle was plugged so he went outside to the left and Eric Reid came up in for a textbook tackle at the legs, which would have had him for a 2-yard loss. But Lattimore bulled through it, put his hand on the ground and avoided Lavar Edwards spinning out of his block to stay low and tumble into the end zone.